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English Audio Request

guaraldica
377 Words / 1 Recordings / 1 Comments
Note to recorder:

Natural speed please and British english accent. You should focus on the difference phonological features: Pronunciation of phonemes (strong and weak), word stress,
sentence stress, speech units, intonation, catenation, elision, intrusion and
assimilation.

Cinema
British cinema has travelled a rocky road. Periods of success, triumph even, have been curtly followed by years in the doldrums. 1930s nurtured Alfred Hitchock and Alexander Korda, and a golden age came a decade later, packing out cinemas with David Lean epics and Ealing comedies. In the 1960’s, the New Wave directors established social realism as a perennial, praiseworthy strand of British film. But either side of such spurts, home-grown cinema has relied on individual gems, films that are hailed as epochal but usually revealed in retrospect as isolated treasures. We shouldn’t be surprised at the mixed fortunes. English language cinema is dominated by the star-driven industry in Hollywood, and Britain’s ensemble affairs struggle to compete with America’s cultural and economic might. However, despite the hard luck stories, films like Nil by Mouth, The Full Monty and Atonement have played a crucial role in shaping the cultural landscape of modern Britain. They present a diverse cinematic tradition that while distinctly ‘British’ has no overriding style. From Mike Leigh’s realism to the escapism of Bond, the suspense of The Third Man or the culture-clash gay romance of My Beautiful Laundrette, British cinema is nothing of not eclectic.

Cinema audiences have steadily increased in Britain over the last 20 years, creeping up from a 1984 nadir when only 54 million tickets were sold all year. These days the figures have levelled out at around 160 million admissions a year. Ten times that number went to the movies in 1946, before television became so distracting. Around half the British cinema-going public is aged under 25, although this statistic is falling, with the over 45s taking an increasing share of seats. Perhaps these demographics help to explain why Brits are far more likely to watch a Hollywood film than anything native. The number of British films in cinemas varies, but usually equates to around one in five on show. Some years are better than others; for example, in 2006, a bumper year for the British film, a third of all box office receipts came from home grown cinema. Even while a third of films released in Britain are in a foreign language, the greatest number in Hindi, they account for little over three percent of total box office revenue.

Recordings

  • cinema ( recorded by boaby123 ), Irish (Southern)

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    Cinema
    British cinema has travelled a rocky road. Periods of success, triumph even, have been curtly followed by years in the doldrums. 1930s nurtured Alfred Hitchock and Alexander Korda, and a golden age came a decade later, packing out cinemas with David Lean's epics and Ealing comedies. In the 1960’s, the New Wave directors established social realism as a perennial, praiseworthy strand of British film. But either side of such spurts, home-grown cinema has relied on individual gems, films that are hailed as epochal but usually revealed in retrospect as isolated treasures. We shouldn’t be surprised at the mixed fortunes. English language cinema is dominated by the star-driven industry in Hollywood, and Britain’s ensemble affairs struggle to compete with America’s cultural and economic might. However, despite the hard luck stories, films like Nil by Mouth, The Full Monty and Atonement have played a crucial role in shaping the cultural landscape of modern Britain. They present a diverse cinematic tradition that while distinctly ‘British’ has no overriding style. From Mike Leigh’s realism to the escapism of Bond, the suspense of The Third Man or the culture-clash gay romance of My Beautiful Laundrette, British cinema is nothing of not eclectic.

    Cinema audiences have steadily increased in Britain over the last 20 years, creeping up from a 1984 nadir when only 54 million tickets were sold all year. These days the figures have levelled out at around 160 million admissions a year. Ten times that number went to the movies in 1946, before television became so distracting. Around half the British cinema-going public is aged under 25, although this statistic is falling, with the over 45s taking an increasing share of seats. Perhaps these demographics help to explain why Brits are far more likely to watch a Hollywood film than anything native. The number of British films in cinemas varies, but usually equates to around one in five on show. Some years are better than others; for example, in 2006, a bumper year for the British film, a third of all box office receipts came from home grown cinema. Even while a third of films released in Britain are in a foreign language, the greatest number in Hindi, they account for little over three percent of total box office revenue.

Comments

boaby123
July 11, 2014

"Pronunciation of phonemes (strong and weak), word stress,
sentence stress, speech units, intonation, catenation, elision, intrusion and
assimilation."
Your request assumes that most British English speakers know what these terms mean. They don't. Only linguists, teachers, actors and some second language learners would know them.
My English is Irish, so that probably doesn't suit your needs, but I'll do it anyway so you have more examples to compare with. I will try to read it clearly ,with as good diction as I can. You can decide if it hits any of your desired foci.

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